Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Colonel Richard Kemp.

Richard Kemp spoke at the Young Israel synagogue in Netanya on behalf of Laniado Hospital.He spoke on the anniversary of the Turkish surrender of Jerusalem to General Allenby.He remarked on the interment of Lt.Col. John Henry Patterson in nearby Moshav Avichail.

Patterson was the British commander who formed the Jewish Brigade in World War One, that preceded the formation of Israel's IDF. This was the first Jewish fighting force since Bar Kochba in biblical days.

He wished to be buried alongside the soldiers of the Jewish Brigade in Israel. Last week his wishes were granted.

Patterson was a friend of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's, father and was godfather to Bibi's brother Yoni, who was named after him.Yoni fell in the Israeli rescue mission at Entebbe Airport in 1976 when Palestinian and German terrorists held Israeli and Jewish hostages and threatened to kill them. Bibi called Patterson "the godfather of the Israeli army."

Kemp paid thanks to Israeli technology that has saved the lives of untold number of British soldiers. Even badly injured soldiers have lives saved due to specific Israeli equipment. In a private conversation with me he acknowledged how the special Israeli field bandages had saved British soldiers in dangerous condition following explosions until they had been evacuated to medical facilities.

British soldiers, he said, have a different view of Israel than other members of the population whose opinions are formed by the media. It is born out of their professional and personal experiences."There is an understanding that is not shared by the public."

The number one item of the media and war commissions were Palestinian civilian casualties. Everything else was shunted to the sidelines."The anti-Israel movement has become institutionalized," he said.

He told of his impressions of going into Hamas terror tunnels. He was impressed about how much had been invested into them as he explained the sophistication of them. But one thing troubled him. He recalled his visit to Auschwitz. Both, he said, were industries designed to kill Jews."It is no coincidence. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Muslim Brotherhood were allied with the Nazis."

Richard is much loved for going where no man dare tread - and that is bravely telling the truth about Israel's IDF and its enemies from his professional expertise.